Device for making radially extending motifs of textile fibers

ABSTRACT

This device is of the type comprising a ring provided with projections over which are passed threads which cross the ring diametrally from one projection to another. It consists of a ring (1) of semi-rigid thermoplastic material having radial projections (2) on the periphery thereof situated in the plane of the ring and regularly spaced about the last, said ring being partially slit (3) across one of its diameters through a portion of its thickness, the resulting slots leaving, on the same side of the ring, a continuous thickness of material sufficient to ensure the connection of the half rings (1a, 1b) while forming a simple hinge, and two holes being formed one on either side of each slot to receive with friction studs projecting from the ends of a bar (5) which crosses the ring diametrally. The device is used to make motifs such as flowers, doilies or circular yokes.

Unite States atent Gosse DEVICE FOR MAKING RADIALLY EXTENDING MOTIFS OF TEXTILE FIBERS lnventor: Francoise Gosse, Nord, France Assignee: Societe En Commandite Par Actions:

Establissements M. Caulliez Et Delaoutre, Tourcoing, France Filed: Jan. 7, 1974 Appl. No.: 431,049

Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 25, 1973 France 73.14994 U.S. Cl 223/46, 28/2, 28/15 Int. Cl A41h 43/00 Field of Search 28/15, 2, 72; 223/46 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Millay 28/2 Primary E.\'tllllill(l' -GO. V. Larkin Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Synnestvedt & Lechncr [57] ABSTRACT v This device is of the type comprising a ring provided with projections over which are passed threads which cross the ring diametrally from one projection to another.

It consists of a ring (1) of semi-rigid thermoplastic material having radial projections (2) on the periphery thereof situated in the plane of the ring and regularly spaced about the last, said'ring being partially slit (3) across one of its diameters through a portion of its thickness, the resulting slots leaving, on the same side of the ring, a continuous thickness of material sufficient to ensure the connection of the half rings (la, 1b) while forming a simple hinge, and two holes being formed one on either side of each slot to receive with friction studs projecting from the ends of a bar (5) which crosses the ring diametrally.

The device is used to make motifs such as flowers, doilies or circular yokes.

7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures The present invention relates to making radially extending motifs, such as flowers, doilies or circular yokes or the like from textile fibers such as wool for example.

Various devices have already been proposed to this end, usually consisting of an annular support having a central opening of greater or smaller diameter and on one side of the surfaces of which studs or needles project perpendicularly in one or more concentric circles, the textile fibers are passed around the studs or needles, the said fiber passing between two studs across the central zone of the device, after which the threads thus radially placed on the device are connected to one another over a more or less large surface, concentric to the device or at points more or less regularly distributed in concentric circles in order to form various decorative motifs.

The object of the invention is a device of the same type, which has the advantage of being flat while making it possible to obtain motifs as varied as, if not more varied, than the previously known devices. The shape and organization of the device according to the invention permit it to be manufactured very easily of plastic material in very simple shape moulds, as a result of which it is very cheap to manufacture and easy to use.

The device according to the invention comprises essentially a ring of semi-rigid thermoplastic material having on the periphery thereof radial projections situated in the plane of the ring and regularly spaced about the latter, said ring being slit across one of the diameters thereof through a portion of its thickness, the resulting slits leaving, on the same face of the ring, a continuous thickness of material sufficient to ensure the connection of half-rings while forming a simple hinge, and two holes being formed, one on either side of each slit, to receive, with friction, studs projecting from the ends of a bar which passes diametrally across the ring.

Fitting of the studs of the transversal bar into the holes formed in the ring ensures the ring being maintained open, that is to say in a same plane, the bar itself enabling the device to be held for use thereof, it being possible, however, to fold the ring when the piece of work is finished, to enable the said piece of work to be removed, the whole as will be described hereinbelow.

The peripheral projections on the ring are preferably shaped like triangular teeth. The diametral bar consisting advantageously of a relatively thin planar bar with divergent ends on which are formed the projecting studs adapted to penetrate the corresponding holes in the ring.

The appended drawings show, by way of example, a mode of embodiment of the device according to the invention. In these drawings:

FIG. I is a plan-view of said device;

FIG. 2 is a larger scale cross-sectional view along line II-II of FIG. 1. i

As it is shown, the device according to the invention consists ofa ring 1, molded in a semi-rigid plastic material of any known type which is suited to this end, having about the periphery thereof triangular projections or teeth 2, and separated into two half-rings la and lb by slits 3 formed during molding, extending through a same diameter of the ring without passing through the entire thickness thereof, to leave a certain thickness 4 not slit, flexibly connecting the two half-rings la and 1b and forming a hinge about which the last can be folded back towards each other. Across the ring, along the same diameter as that on which slots 3 are formed, there is disposed an independent bar 5 terminating at each of the ends thereof in two branches 6a, 6b diverging in a Y-shape and bearing the respective studs 7a, 7b designed to permit friction in the corresponding holes 8a, 8b formed in ring 1 on either side of slots 3.

The fitting of studs 7a, 7b of the bar 5 into the corresponding holes 811, 8b in the ring ensures the two halfrings la and lb being maintained flat in the open" position shown in the drawings. By withdrawing studs and 7b from holes 8a, 8b or simply stud 7a positioned on a same side of the diameter along which bar 5 extends, from the corresponding holes 8a, it is possible to bend each half-ring la and lb back towards each other about the hinges formed by the unslit thickness 4 of ring 1.

The device thus formed is used, for example, in the following manner to form a flower shaped radial motif by means of a woolen yarn.

One of the ends of the yarn being attached to the bar 5, the user holds the apparatus in her right hand by the said bar, placed underneath and turned towards her, and passes the yarn from left to right under the first tooth 2 situated immediately to the left of the slot 3, the furthest away from her, then passes it back across the ring to pass it from left to right under the diametrally opposite tooth 2, then passes it across the ring again and under tooth 2 adjacent to the first, on the opposite side, moving away from the aforesaid slot 3, and so on, preferably going round the ring several times (the path of travel of a thread across several diametrally opposed consecutive teeth has been shown in chain dotted lines in FIG. 1). To facilitate the realization of this stage of use, the teeth 2 can be numbered on each half-ring, for example from one to twenty four in the example shown, where the ring has a total of 48 teeth, from a slot 3 for one of the half-rings and the other slot 3 for the other. Corresponding figures marked on each tooth are advantageously formed during molding, in relief, said numbering has not been shown in order to avoid overcrowding the drawings.

When ring 1 has been filled, all the threads wound round each tooth 2 may be gathered together with a knotted stitch by means of a same thread forming a circle concentric to the ring, adjacent to the inner edge of the last, then continuing in the same manner along a second concentric circle nearer to the center of the ring.

When the motif is finished, bar 5 is detached and the two half-rings 1a and 1b are bent towards each other, thus permitting the motif obtained to be removed from the ring.

It is obvious that many other types of motif can be made using a device according to the invention, for example, by using a warp on which weaving is effected in a spiral with a weft of the same colour, or a different colour or, again, by threading a twist in a star shape over the teeth of the ring (once or twice round) and alternately connecting the threads passing over two adjacent teeth in concentric circles, etc.

What we claim is:

l. A device for making radial motifs in textile fibers comprising, an annular support projections disposed on said support in at least one circle concentric thereto,

the annular support being comprised of a ring of semirigid thermoplastic material having radial projections on the periphery thereof situated in the plane of the ring and arranged thereabout, said ring having a pair of slots across one of its diameters through a portion of its thickness, the resulting slots leaving, on one surface of the ring, a continuous thickness of material sufficient to ensure connection of the two half-rings while forming a simple hinge, a bar adapted to cross the ring diametrally, studs projecting from ends of the bar, and two holes being formed, one on either side of each slot to receive frictionally, the studs projecting from the ends of the bar.

2. The device of claim 1, characterized in that the peripheral projections have the form of triangular teeth.

3. The device of claim 1 characterized in that the projections of .one half-ring are numbered consecutively whereby a projection bearing a number on one half-ring corresponds to a diametrally opposite projection on the other half-ring bearing the same number.

4. A device for making motifs of textile fibers comprising a substantially planar support member of semirigid plastic material, a plurality of projections disposed about the periphery of the support member, a slot extending substantially medially through a portion of the thickness of the support member and forming a simple hinge, means extending across the slot for maintaining the support member in a substantially planar condition and means on the support member disposed on each side of the slot for releasably retaining the maintaining means.

5. The device as in claim 4 wherein the projections extend radially outwardly of the support member.

6. The device as in claim 4 wherein the support means comprises an annular member. having a pair of diametrally aligned slots forming said hinge.

7. A device as in claim 6 wherein releasable retaining means are disposed on each side of each of the slots and wherein the maintaining means comprises a bar having means disposed at each end thereof for engaging the releasable engaging means disposed on each side of the slot. 

1. A device for making radial motifs in textile fibers comprising, an annular support projections disposed on said support in at least one circle concentric thereto, the annular support being comprised of a ring of semi-rigid thermoplastic material having radial projections on the periphery thereof situated in the plane of the ring and arranged thereabout, said ring having a pair of slots across one of its diameters through a portion of its thickness, the resulting slots leaving, on one surface of the ring, a continuous thickness of material sufficient to ensure connection of the two half-rings while forming a simple hinge, a bar adapted to cross the ring diametrally, studs projecting from ends of the bar, and two holes being formed, one on either side of each slot to receive frictionally, the studs projecting from the ends of the bar.
 1. A device for making radial motifs in textile fibers comprising, an annular support projections disposed on said support in at least one circle concentric thereto, the annular support being comprised of a ring of semi-rigid thermoplastic material having radial projections on the periphery thereof situated in the plane of the ring and arranged thereabout, said ring having a pair of slots across one of its diameters through a portion of its thickness, the resulting slots leaving, on one surface of the ring, a continuous thickness of material sufficient to ensure connection of the two half-rings while forming a simple hinge, a bar adapted to cross the ring diametrally, studs projecting from ends of the bar, and two holes being formed, one on either side of each slot to receive frictionally, the studs projecting from the ends of the bar.
 2. The device of claim 1, characterized in that the peripheral projections have the form of triangular teeth.
 3. The device of claim 1 characterized in that the projections of one half-ring are numbered consecutively whereby a projection bearing a number on one half-ring corresponds to a diametrally opposite projection on the other half-ring bearing the same number.
 4. A device for making motifs of textile fibers comprising a substantially planar support member of semi-rigid plastic material, a plurality of projections disposed about the periphery of the support member, a slot extending substantially medially through a portion of the thickness of the support member and forming a simple hinge, means extending across the slot for maintaining the support member in a substantially planar condition and means on the support member disposed on each side of the slot for releasably retaining the maintaining means.
 5. The device as in claim 4 wherein the projections extend radially outwardly of the support member.
 6. The device as in claim 4 wherein the support means comprises an annular member, having a pair of diametrally aligned slots forming said hinge. 